Charlie's thread - Page 188

BorisPasha · 01-23-2017, 02:26 AM

I'm sorry to hear about Charlie, it must be really hard for you Serendipity. He might not be as physically strong now but mentally he sounds as strong as ever. His personality, determination and his independent streak are still shining through. I hope he settles again soon after his vet visit on Friday.

Pebbles82 · 01-23-2017, 02:31 AM

Thank you Boris Pasha

I agree. Today when Charlie tried eating porridge lying on his back with his head twisted round, reminded me of when he was a baby in an (awful!) Rotostak large base unit that had a bottle at one end. His nest was built round the bottle spout and he used to drink lying down in bed

Hamsterita · 01-23-2017, 02:37 AM

I'm sorry to hear that he's struggling. But I'm sure that he appreciates the porridge, and that helps him trough the day. I hope he's recovering from his vet visit. Is he already eating ok? Are his ears still down?

Pebbles82 · 01-23-2017, 04:05 AM

Yes he is eating ok Hamsterita (I think!) He is certainly eating his baby food, porridge and veg and hoarding Harry Hamster and taking a bit of the Science Selective - about the same as before although he has also chewed a hard chew stick which is encouraging. I'm not sure how much of his "extras" and hard food he is eating yet.

Haven't had chance to notice if his ears are up or down mostly yet. Last night they were never fully up, down at first but came up a little bit when he was exploring.

I shall see how he goes over the next few days. He may also still be getting over the stress of the vet visit. He looks fairly content when he's in his nest, not so much out of the cage at first, but comes round a bit after 10 minutes or so. But again that could be getting over the vet visit. I'm not going to lift him out of the cage any more though. Now I've removed the compartment from his house (recently) I can fit one of his tubes in it with one end at the door of his nest compartment, so will go back to getting him out of the cage that way (ie food at one end of the tube and he walks into the tube) - which is what I always used to do before he had the Barney and the big house.

Thin Lizzy · 01-23-2017, 04:26 AM

Good that Charlie is eating his baby food, porridge & veg and also about you deciding to use a tube making it easier to get him out.

Pebbles82 · 01-24-2017, 03:02 PM

Charlie's fur seems a bit nicer and softer tonight and maybe a bit less sparse unless I am imagining it. But it's in better condition. He has been making me laugh a bit - but now I'm not sure it's laughable as it may be practical. He burrows right down in his nest and goes to sleep half on his back, then has to try and get upright to climb out. Or lies on his back and twists his head round to eat or drink if I offer him something (like porridge on a spoon eg).

He did look quite cute and comical, but now I'm think it is for comfort he is lying like that and it's not nice for him not to be able to get the right way up easily. His tummy seems even more bloated and it makes him "roll" a bit. So maybe he's lying on his back because his tummy is uncomfortable. His tummy has been getting bloated for a couple of weeks now.

Generally though he is still Charlie - still a bit frail and wobbly. Still with his ears down but looks a bit more like his old self. Apart from the bloated tummy, which is a bit worrying. He had a little explore round his cage area again and I watched to see if his ears came up the longer he was out and about and getting interested in things. They did come up slightly but not fully.

I'm not sure he's been eating the flax seeds and if he has had some I'd be surprised if they would improve his coat in just 3 days. The only other difference is I've been putting the homeopathic arthritis medicine in his water bottle (it's one drop and tasteless/no odour), plus a bit of manuka honey a couple of days ago.

I got him out in the tube tonight and he enjoyed a piece of chicken. Poor little boy's balance is not good and I think it's as much his tummy as his back legs, putting him off balance and making him roll over sometimes then struggle to get back up again. But he can get back up and still seems to have a fair bit of energy. Just as he can get out of his deep burrow and out into his cage when he wants to.

At the moment the only thing that really concerns me is his bloated tummy (as the vet pointed out) and not knowing the exact cause of this.

CMB · 01-24-2017, 03:08 PM

Could the bloated tummy be a sign of constipation?

Coco61 · 01-24-2017, 03:18 PM

I am sorry about his tummy. Lieing on his side/back could well be to avoid pressure on his tummy and because he cannot curl up like he wants to. Disappointing not to know the cause and a worry not to be able to help. Some things you have given him may be helping other symptoms and I like the fact his fur is in nice condition. When you are allowed to, just add an extra stroke from me.

Pebbles82 · 01-24-2017, 03:31 PM

Will do Coco. I did wonder about constipation when I first saw his tummy was a bit swollen CMB - part of the reason I'd decided to take him to the vet. She put it down to Cushings, but it can also be heart failure, kidney failure, ascites - all kinds of things.

I'm still upset that I can't give him Metacam because it may not be Cushings (in fact the more I think about it, the more I think it's likely something else). I can accept letting him age gently into a decline but it doesn't seem right not to be able to give him pain relief, just in case he needs it. Even if he did have Cushings and it made it come on worse at least I'd know he was ready to go then.

But I don't think there's much I can do right now. He is eating and drinking. He does seem to have stopped using his wheel now for the last few nights and I think it's probably because of the swollen tummy because his back legs never stopped him before.

He does look more his old self when he's in his house somehow - but not to keen on being out of the cage I think, with his ears down. He mostly wants to stay inside his snooze cube - but then he always was a bit like that out of cage. And then he does get distracted a bit exploring round his cage. He seems fascinated by the filing cabinet for some reason, as if he wants to climb it and even sat up on his back legs tonight looking up it.

Pebbles82 · 01-24-2017, 05:31 PM

Just before I went to bed I decided to try Charlie with the Evening Primrose oil. I had some in a small syringe, so there was a drop on the end and held it near his nest door. He really liked it and kept biting the syringe to try and get more out

And then he had a little lick of manuka honey. I'm just giving that every few days. As it was his late night waking time he seemed a bit more awake and then decided to go out of his house and get his veg. I had grown some nibble grass recently and put a bit of that in the cage near his house, and a little bit of burdock root. Not sure if he pouched the burdock root or not but he pouched all the nibble grass and then went to have a good lick of his baby food.

He is enjoying his food, but I am a bit worried about him getting around the cage or getting stuck in his nest. I think he burrowed down recently so he's covered up, because I take the roof of the house. So I pushed some more bedding right underneath his nest so his nest was still on top and pushed it up so it's at floor level and cut out some cardboard to make a little mini roof over it inside the house (sort of hinged at the back so it doesn't fall over). I did it while he was nearby so he didn't have too much of a surprise.

It's difficult not wanting to disturb things for him, but I feel a bit happier knowing he can get out of it easier and not get stuck and he used to like having a cardboard lining in his house before and chewed bits off it.

Anyway it means I can't expose him from above when I take the house roof off so he should feel a bit more secure - but I can still get him out by putting the tube over the door of his nest room.

I'm hoping he has some of the burdock root. It's something people sometimes put in their food mixes so it's ok for hammies and as a herb it's supposed to be good for Cushings, the liver, detoxing and also for cancer. I know I'm not going to cure him but it would be nice if some of his symptoms were relieved so he felt more comfortable.